Mission San José is a Christian religious center that was established by Spanish Roman Catholic priests in California. Between 1769 and 1823, Spanish priests started 21 missions as centers for teaching the Indians of California about Christianity. The Franciscan missionary Fermín Lasuén founded the mission on June 11, 1797, in what is now Fremont, California. The mission was named for Saint Joseph, the man who married Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. Local Ohlone Indians helped build the mission and were some of its earliest members.
The people at Mission San José produced grain, olive oil, leather, soap, wine, and other products for the nearby markets. The mission’s sprawling pastures eventually supported 350,000 cattle—the most of any mission—along with thousands of horses and sheep. Mission San José was famous for its Indian orchestra featuring 30 Ohlone musicians.
In 1833 and 1834, the Mexican government seized and redistributed properties that had belonged to the missions, and Mission San José fell into ruin. However, the surrounding pueblo (town) boomed as a result of the California gold rush that began in 1848. The mission buildings were used as a hotel, general store, and post office.
In 1868, an earthquake destroyed the mission church and many other buildings. Restoration efforts eventually converted the surviving portion of the convento (living quarters) into a museum of the mission’s history. In 1985, an exact replica of the original mission church was completed. It is furnished and decorated as the original church was in the 1830’s. Saint Joseph’s Church at the Mission San José is an active Roman Catholic parish church.
